Harbin

China
January, 11 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

"Oh, my goodness!"

The airplane from Beijing descends through the clouds towards the Harbin airport. I stare at the landscape below and I think, "Oh, my goodness!" Actually, "Oh, my goodness" is not the exact phrase that comes to mind. "Holy cow" is a little closer but still not 100% accurate.

Deserted roads and snow-covered farms spread out everywhere like an Amish quilt that landed in a vat of bleach. Smoke from a tall smokestack rises in a disturbing pattern; it blows horizontally.

"Be happy where you are, Jan. What did you expect? Tropical waves washing up against white sand? Coconut palms, maybe, swaying in a light breeze? You are in Harbin for the Ice Lantern Festival. Harbin. 45 degrees North Latitude. North of Vladivostok and halfway to the North Pole. Ice, Jan, ice. Think ice."

Xi`an
Shaanxi Province
China
January 16, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Whenever I tell my Chinese friends I am going to Xi`an, they always respond with, "Jan, you are going to an ancient city."

It is difficult to imagine that modern Xi`an, with a population of more than three million, is an ancient city. Yet, ancient it is.

Taipei

Taiwan

October 28, 2007

Taipei. The capital of Taiwan. 2.7 million well-educated, well-dressed, energetic, hospitable people. Everyone carries a colorful umbrella.

It's crowded, busy and glitzy. Modern buildings. Modern fashions. Some boys wear spiked hair and the girls "accessorize." Spotlessly clean. Lots of bright yellow taxis with drivers who accept any destination without question.

Taipei,

Taiwan

Republic of China

October 24, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

I am shocked, shocked to find that "Für Elise" is the "national anthem" of Taiwan!

As I check in to the Han She Hotel in Taipei, "Für Elise" flows forth from the lobby sound system. It's not a very good version; it's too heavy for my taste, and not lovely and lyrical as Beethoven intended. 

As I stroll around Taipei, and in the streets of other cities and towns, "Für Elise" pours forth. But from where? At first I thought it was a loud mobile phone announcement or maybe an inducement from a shop or a restaurant. But it's playing on every street, morning, noon and night. Finally I found the source.

Palitana

Bhavnagar

Gujarat, India

March 10, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Kem cho,

The green and yellow aluminum beach chair is lashed to a bamboo platform. The platform is then lashed to two long bamboo poles. Here in Palitana this litter, this contraption, is called a dholi.

I sit. Charged camera is at my side, binoculars strung from my neck, cap atop my head, my day-bag loaded with water and sunscreen. I give the signal. In the late morning sun, one on each end of a pole, the four young dholi bearers deftly hoist yours truly aloft for the two hour, four kilometer (2.5 mi) scenic ascent of 3572 steps. Three thousand. Five hundred. Seventy two. Steps. Six hundred meters. Up.

Mumbai,

India
March 11, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary who visited their colony in 1911.

The Gateway stands tall in Mumbai (Bombay) on the shore of the Arabian Sea. This "bold basalt arch of colonial triumph" greeted the many thousands of soldiers who arrived during the later years of the British Raj.* It also was the last structure they saw when they departed in 1948 after Indian Independence was proclaimed.